An unexpected windfall of Stephen’s death (end of Acts 7) was the spread of the gospel beyond Jerusalem as a result of the increased persecution of the Christians by Jews who were emboldened by their ability to get rid of Stephen. As it says in Acts 8:1 – “And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Stephen had been the unquestioned leader of a group of Hellenistic (Greek-background) Jews who had come to faith and was testifying of Jesus Christ with such power that the Jewish religious leaders concluded that they had to kill him. He was one of seven men of Greek background appointed by the apostles to a servant ministry because of their character and the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in their lives (Acts 5:3-8).
It is significant to note that the “all” (who were) scattered according to Acts 8:1 is not really everyone. We know that the church continued in Jerusalem – and the apostles remained to care for the church there. Moreover, from the context, the “all” was likely a reference to the Hellenists – the Greek-speaking Jews-turned-Christians, who would have been easy to identify by their persecutors. And so in verse 5 we are introduced to, Philip; not Philip of the Twelve – but Philip, the second one listed after Stephen in Acts 6 of the Seven appointed to serve tables for widows.
Now with Stephen gone to be with his Lord, it was time for Philip to step up and take his place in the flow of what God the Holy Spirit was doing. When a key player on a sports team goes down with an injury, many times there will be panic, especially among the fandom. However, you will often hear the coach calmly remark: “we expect the next man in line to step up and take his place.” And if the coach and the organization are doing their job right, the team will continue to be effective. Unfortunately, that is one of the principles the church has often ignored throughout its history. It is found in the commands to make disciples and in Ephesians 4 where church leaders are to train members to do the work of the ministry. But with the celebrity mentality that exists in many of our churches and organizations, when a leader goes down, it ends up crippling the entire ministry. My prayer and vision for myself and for our church is that we will be a disciple-making church in which leadership – Biblical, servant leadership – will regularly emerge in our congregation.